Doubts Surface About N. Korea's Role in Ship-Sinking

SEOUL, South Korea— Despite months of accusations that North Korea torpedoed a South Korean warship, a growing number of voices are raising doubts that the North could have carried out such an attack, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton calls the evidence "overwhelming" that the Cheonan, a South Korean warship that sank in March, was hit by a North Korean torpedo. Vice President Joe Biden has cited the South Korean-led panel investigating the sinking as a model of transparency.

Armed with dossiers of their own scientific studies and bolstered by conspiracy theories, South Korean critics dispute the findings announced May 20 by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, which pointed a finger at Pyongyang. They say the accusations are politically motivated, announced during fiercely contested local elections.

The critics, mostly but not all from the opposition, say it is unlikely that the impoverished North Korean regime could have pulled off a perfectly executed hit against a superior military power, sneaking a submarine into the area and slipping away without detection. They also wonder whether the evidence of a torpedo attack was misinterpreted, or even fabricated.

One theory is that the Cheonan hit ground in the shallow waters off the Korean peninsula and damaged its hull trying to get off a reef.

SEOUL, South Korea— Despite months of accusations that North Korea torpedoed a South Korean warship, a growing number of voices are raising doubts that the North could have carried out such an attack, the Los Angeles Times reports.